What happened to our lovely made momos?
12.01.2018 - 12.01.2018
Day 5 Gangtok > Rumtek Monastery
Along a narrow winding and very bumpy road it was a morning trip to Rumtek Monastery. Thank goodness it was only 24kms away. Trouble we had to take the same route back.
We had breakfast just opposite the Monastery first and more chicken fried rice 140 rupee / NZ$2.90 / US$2.20 and milk tea 20 rupees / NZ$0.40 / US$0.30 =160 rupee / NZ$3.35 / US$2.50 for me.
Currently Rumtek Monastery is the largest monastery in Sikkim. Checked out the golden stupa containing relics of the 16th Karmapa. No photos were allowed inside but check out these links.
http://www.rumtek.org/index.php?lang=en
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumtek_Monastery
https://www.darjeeling-tourism.com/darj_000106.htm
Ngaire, Bruce, Ken, JD, Robyn, Sally, Joe, Tova, Hans
Our local guide said that people from 5 countries are not permitted into Sikkim: Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Maynmar and Nigeria, though on https://www.darjeeling-tourism.com/darj_00015b.htm Nigeria is not listed.
China is only 55 kms away, hence a strong military presence here in Sikkim as we drove around.
I wondered why there were soldiers in the monastery itself. Here is the reason.
Rumtek is at the centre of the Karmapa controversy, with a lengthy battle being played out in the Indian courts. Two rival organisations, each supporting a different candidate for the 17th Karmapa, claim stewardship of the monastery and its contents. The two organisations are the Tsurphu Labrang (supporting Ogyen Trinley Dorje) and the Karmapa Charitable Trust (supporting Trinley Thaye Dorje). Since 1992, the monastery has been the site of pitched battles between monks supporting one candidate or the other.
Neither candidate resides, nor has been enthroned, at Rumtek. Monks supporting Trinley Thaye Dorje (the minority) were thrown out of Rumtek by Indian security forces in order to quell violence between the two factions. Armed Indian soldiers still patrol the monastery to prevent further sectarian violence. Thanks Mr Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumtek_Monastery
Here are some more images from Dr “Google”:
Momo
Momo cooking demonstration back at the hotel and each of us had to make one. Let’s just say that our efforts never came out of the kitchen as I had expected. Anyway we each had a plate made by the chef to eat for our very late lunch. Cabbage, onion, carrot, 50:50 ginger and oil, wheat flour dough, baking powder and tasting powder.
Momo is a type of steamed dumpling with some form of filling. Momo has become a traditional delicacy in Nepal, Tibet and among Nepalese/Tibetan communities in Bhutan as well as people of Sikkim.
A simple white-flour-and-water dough is generally preferred to make the outer momo covering. Sometimes, a little yeast or baking soda is added to give a more doughy texture to the finished product.
Traditionally, momo is prepared with ground/minced meat filling, but over the past several years, this has changed and the fillings have become more elaborate. These days, momo is prepared with virtually any combination of ground meat, vegetables, tofu, paneer cheese, soft chhurpi (local hard cheese) and vegetable and meat combinations.
• Meat: Different types of meat fillings are popular in different regions. In Nepal, Tibet, Darjeeling district, Sikkim and Bhutan, pork, chicken, goat meat and buffalo meat are commonly used. In the Himalayan region of Nepal, lamb and yak meat are more common. Minced meat is combined with any or all of the following: onions/shallots, garlic, ginger and cilantro/coriander. Some people also add finely puréed tomatoes and soy sauce.
• Vegetables: Finely chopped cabbage, potato, flat bean (Lilva Kachori) or chayote (iskush) are used as fillings in Nepal.
• Cheese: Usually fresh cheese (Paneer) or the traditional soft chhurpi is used.
• Khoa: Momo filled with milk solids mixed with sugar are popular as dessert in the Kathmandu valley.
The dough is rolled into small circular flat pieces. The filling is then enclosed in the circular dough cover either in a round pocket or in a half-moon or crescent shape. People prefer meat that has a lot of fat because it produces intensively flavored juicy momos. A little oil is sometimes added to the lean ground/minced meat to keep the filling moist and juicy. The dumplings are then cooked by steaming over a soup (either a stock based on bones or vegetables) in a momo-making utensil called mucktoo. The dumplings may also be pan-fried or deep-fried after being steamed.
There are typically two types of momo, steamed and fried. Momo is usually served with a dipping sauce (locally called chutney/achhar), normally made with tomato as the base ingredient. Soup momo is a dish with steamed momo immersed in a meat broth. Pan-fried momo is also known as kothey momo. Steamed momo served in hot sauce is called C-momo. There are also a variety of dumplings of Nepal, including tingmo and thaipo. Thanks Mr Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Momo (food)
Ngaire
Here are some more images from Dr “Google”:
Just happened to be in the hotel restaurant and no I didn't ...
View from the hotel
Mahatma Gandhi Marg
A walk along an open air mall Mahatma Gandhi Marg surprised me as I wasn’t expecting anything like this. We could have been in any city. Not the India that I have experienced so far as main city shopping streets are concerned.
https://www.darjeeling-tourism.com/darj_000116.htm
Here are some more images from Dr “Google”:
https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=Mahatma+Gandhi+Marg+gangtok&tbm=isch
By now I was getting worst and took up the offer of seeing a doctor. 300 rupees/ NZ$6.30 / US$4.65 for consultation plus some medicine (antibiotics, cough medicine) for another 310 rupee / NZ$6.50 / US$4.80 for my annoying cough.
Taste of Tibet saw us for dinner and I had their House Special Chop Suey 280 rupee / NZ$5.90 / US$4.30.
Posted by bruceontour 14:23 Archived in India Tagged monastery momo mahatma_gandhi_marg Comments (0)